The Price of Devotion

“Se-rim!”

When I called his name, Yoo Se-rim definitely met my eyes. But he turned his head away with total indifference. He was an R-class Awakened—someone who could have easily saved me.

Strangely, I knew just by that look. I had been abandoned. This is the end; I don’t need you anymore. That was what Se-rim’s cold face was saying.

Perhaps I should be thankful; it was only after seeing that expression that I realized the countless hours of devotion and effort I’d poured into Yoo Se-rim were not just in vain, but utterly useless and pathetic.

“Gah—pfft!”

I struggled in the pitch-black water, my feet unable to touch the bottom, desperate to live. Everyone just looked down at me. No one reached out a hand.

Thinking back, it was only natural. I had been discarded. To them, watching me flounder in a desperate, pathetic attempt to survive must have been quite a comedy.

Slowly, the door began to close. I saw the backs of my party members walking away.

Thud—!

Finally, the heavy door slammed shut without a hint of hesitation. I was left alone in a darkness so thick I couldn’t distinguish a single thing.

“Ha… ha… gasp!”

Even then, with my face stained by tears and submerged in water, I took a deep breath and dived one last time. I wanted to survive. I didn’t want to die. I hadn’t found a single clue about my missing brother yet; I couldn’t die a dog’s death after being used like a fool by Yoo Se-rim.

Please, please…

But no matter how much I struggled, the darkness was absolute. Fear began to swallow my body. The freezing water. The black void. How can I even describe that feeling of hopelessness?

“Ugh…”

Eventually, my stiffening body began to lose sensation. The very last thing I felt, miserably and painfully, was the fishy scent of cold water rushing into my mouth and nose.

Drowning.

But my cause of death was no different from murder. As I died, I couldn’t stop thinking about Yoo Se-rim and his “elite” comrades turning their backs on me.

“Gurgle, cough…”

The last thing I saw was my brother. The reason I entered this world. Unlike me, he was a Transcendental-class ranker whose name everyone knew.

‘I came here to find you, brother…’

Is he really dead? Will I finally meet him now?

At that moment, my brother’s shadow flickered across my vision like a cinematic montage. Whether it was a hallucination born of longing or something else, the pendant I received the day I last heard from him began to burn hot.

That sensation wasn’t a delusion. That pendant was leading me back to the ‘beginning’ of everything.

Chapter 1

Han Seong-hun.

That is my brother’s name. In the “Other World,” he is a legend—one of the few Transcendental-class rankers in existence.

The “Other World” isn’t our normal modern society; it’s a realm of monsters, dungeons, and people who use skills, much like a game or a movie.

[Bizarre Sinkhole Appears.] [Military Forces Decimated by Monsters Pouring from Sinkhole.]

One day, a massive black sinkhole opened in the sky, connecting “this side” and “that side.” Monsters poured into our defenseless world. Modern weapons were useless. People thought the end of the world had come.

[Humanity’s Last Hope: ‘Awakened’ Appear.]

But there was a silver lining. Soon, some people began to manifest powers as “Awakened.” These individuals crossed over to the Other World to sacrifice themselves for our protection.

That was five years ago. The most famous among those heroes was my brother, Han Seong-hun.

“…Brother, do you really have to go?” “I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Seong-hun was originally a promising scientist, but he became a ranker the moment he awakened. However…

“…What is this?” “These are Han Seong-hun’s… personal effects. He asked that they be given to his brother before he headed out to stop the monster invasion.” “M-my brother is dead? Where…!” “I’m sorry, but we couldn’t even recover the body.”

My brother disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a meager compensation check and a single pendant. He stopped the final invasion and vanished without a trace. Because so many people lost their lives without leaving a body behind, the government declared him dead.

To me, who had lost our parents young and followed him like a father, it was a bolt from the blue. I couldn’t accept it.

Ironically, the day after I was notified of his disappearance, I awakened too. I had a fever so high I thought I was dying, but then the flow of air changed, and I felt as if I were shedding my physical shell.

However, my rank wasn’t ‘R’ like my brother’s. It was a measly ‘C’ rank.

C-rank is barely above a normal human. It’s hardly worth calling an “Awakened.” But at the time, I thought it was destiny—a calling to find my brother. Even knowing that once you cross over, you can’t return until you reach a certain level, I bravely stepped into the Other World.

“…”

Everything was different from what I imagined. The architecture, the plants, the monsters—even though I had studied it, actually feeling it was a different world entirely.

“You’re Han Seong-hun’s brother?” “Yes…”

Despite my low rank, people helped me at first because of my brother’s reputation. He was a beloved ranker who had helped many. But I couldn’t rely on his name forever.

“So, what’s your rank?”

Unlike my R-class brother, I was a C-class Debuffer.

Worse yet, rank is fixed. Once a C-class, always a C-class. The difference in the number of skills and their power is massive.

[Player: Han Sol] Level: 25 Job: Debuffer Rank: C Skills: — Heavy Footsteps (Power 18/20) — Darkened Eyes (Power 15/20) — Overlaid Skin (Power 13/20)

If I were even B-rank, I’d have more skills and my power cap would be 40 to 60. As a C-rank, I can only affect 20 targets at most. R-ranks have over 20 skills and can handle hundreds of monsters easily.

I only made it to Level 25 because of the help of my brother’s old acquaintances. Alone, I never would have survived. This world is a savage place governed by “might makes right,” but back then, I was too blinded by my goal of finding my brother to see that.

Of course, I didn’t stay ignorant forever. I learned it through many bitter experiences.

‘If only I were R-rank like my brother…’

Whenever I felt the surge of anger from being ignored or threatened, I would grip the pendant my brother left me and endure.

But there was a bigger problem. I could handle the insults, but my rank made it impossible to even begin a proper investigation into my brother’s disappearance.